284 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



in use for gathering this harvest, is made on precisely the 

 same principle as the mower and the harvester. That is, 

 that the reciprocating cutting blade, is of the same form 

 and has the same action as those machines. It is somewhat 

 of a reproach to the enterprise of American shepherds, that 

 although a machine for shearing on this principle was in- 

 vented and made over twenty years ago, when the author 

 used it, and probably sheared the first sheep by machine, 

 in this or any other country, it has been in long use in 

 Australia, and is only recently in use on our American sheep 

 ranches. But it has come, and come to stay, and as but little 

 power is needed to run it, and it does the work quickly and 

 with perfect safety to the sheep, it may be profitably used 

 even on comparatively small sheep farms. This same ma- 

 chine has been in use for clipping horses, and even in the 

 barber shops of our large cities, while it has been neglected 

 until now by our sheep men. The now perfected machine 

 will be a considerable saving of expense, and unquestiona- 

 bly will be utilized much in the same way as the peripatetic 

 thrashing machine is, that is, carried from farm to farm to 

 do the work where it will not be profitable to keep the outfit 

 especially for one's own use. 



The method of shearing on a large sheep ranch is shown 

 in detail at fig. 34. The cost of this special operation is about 

 three cents per head for the shearing only. The work done 

 includes the shearing, tagging, rolling the fleece, and pack- 

 ing them into sacks, when they are weighed and ready for 

 shipment. The sheep in this case are sheared unwashed, 

 and on the whole this plan, which is the same as that adopt- 

 ed on the great sheep runs in Australia, is the most economi- 

 cal. The picture sufficiently explains the whole business, 

 from the penning of the sheep to the sacking of the wool for 

 shipment. 



SHEARING Bl HAND. 



The beginner w r ill be more interested in this method of 

 hand shearing as it is best adapted for small flocks. The 

 sheep are penned in any convenient way near the shearing 

 floor, which by the way must be kept clean by sweeping 

 up the refuse, the tags being gathered by a boy along Avith 

 the sweepings, and afterwards hand-washed. The sheep is 



